GRAND OPENING: After a decade of progress, The Brightside Music & Event Venue is ready

What formally held The Venue on 3rd has been transformed with a lot of hard work by a Dayton couple.

The Brightside Music and Event Venue is ready for its grand opening on Friday, Oct. 12. After more than a year of elbow grease, owners Carli and Hamilton Dixon are “ecstatic.” The couple purchased the vacant building 10 years ago because they felt Dayton was losing industry and people.

“We started this project a decade ago, so we are ecstatic to invite the community to celebrate with us. Our Vodvil Ballroom is finished and ready to host you, and we're starting it off with a party to celebrate YOU, Dayton!

The VIP party begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday evening and goes until 7:30 p.m. The party is open to the public starting at 8 p.m. until midnight. The general public portion of the party is free. However, there are many multiple VIP options that include perks like your name on the “Supporter Wall of Fame.”

The project has been a success thanks to fundraising from the entire community, the Dixons said. No backers or investors — just their “credit card and elbow grease.”

“There is a void to fill,” Carli Dixon said. “There are music shows that should be happening in Dayton and they are not. They are too big for a bar or too small for the Schuster Center or Victoria (Theatre.)”

The Brightside provided this parking map for people visiting the venue for the first time.